OPIN is a liaison group of
representatives in the fields of medicine, science, law and politics,
with the backing of trades unionists. It aims to gather evidence of
chronic health damage from farmers exposed to organo-phosphorus (OP)
compounds (400 case-histories are already on OPIN's database); to
disseminate medical and scientific papers; and to ensure co-ordination
between doctors, lawyers and the scientific community. This
information will be free to all OP sufferers, and to the politicians
and journalists who come to OPIN in increasing numbers for
information. A quarterly newsletter carries information and advice to
sufferers to help with claims, medical and legal problems. OPIN is
funded by several small charitable grants.
There are positive indications of better
understanding of the dangers of OP poisoning. The government has
recently given £500,000 jointly to the Institute of Occupational
Medicine at Edinburgh and the Department of Neurology at Glasgow to
investigate chronic damage and exposure to OPs. Somerset County
Council is asking the government to ban OP sheep dips. Cornwall and
the Isles of Scilly Health Authority are to employ Dr Brian Beattie as
advisor on OP problems, and John Monks, General Secretary of the TUC
has accused the Ministry of Agriculture of exposing farmers to
'chemical warfare'. On the legal front, several strong cases involving
OP sufferers are to come to court shortly. The whole attitude of
government would change if these cases succeed.
OPIN is to approach the newly-formed Pesticides
Forum (see above) to ask that OP-based veterinary medicines be
classified as insecticides, and included in its consideration of
pesticide minimisation and best practice. The Countess of Mar
delivered a powerful speech to the House of Lords in February on the
role of the Health and Safety Executive in the sorry tale of OP sheep
dip poisoning. Copies are available from OPIN. Last but not least, the
Environment Directorate of the EC is still considering prosecuting the
British government for contravention of the Water Directive, this as a
result of its advice to farmers on the disposal of used OP sheep dip.
OPIN, Elizabeth Sigmud,
Heathfield Farmhouse, Callington, Cornwall, PL17 7HP, Tel. 01579 384
492, Fax 01579 384 586, Email wsigmud@gn.apc.org
[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 31,March 1996, page 21]